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Older people, Asians, and those with Medicaid coverage and preference for a non-English language at one US hospital system had fewer completed telemedicine visits than their peers during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study of patients scheduled for primary care or specialty telehealth visits at the University of Pennsylvania.
The next few months could be difficult, if Christmas and New Years gatherings and travel seed a new surge in infections.
Only two reinfections occurred in antibody-positive workers, both asymptomatic, and researchers said earlier infection appears to protect for at least 6 months.
As cases soar in both the UK and South Africa, scientists are scrambling to detail variant virus characteristics.
A study of hospital air contamination in JAMA Network Open last week found that 17.4% of air samples from environments near COVID-19 patients were positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA, the virus that causes COVID-19, but only 8.6% contained viable virus.
Leading US viral researchers assessed flu vaccine effectiveness (VE) against two viral strains during the 2019-20 flu season, finding 39% overall effectiveness. The study in Clinical Infectious Diseases late last week suggests that the seasonal flu vaccine was 45% effective against a mutated Victoria lineage B strain, but only 30% effective against 2009 H1N1 variants due to a late-season vaccine mismatch.
More than 40% of US hospitals with ICUs are at 85% or higher capacity, as Pfizer agrees to supply 100,000 more vaccine doses.
No COVID vertical transmission was found, but maternal antibody transfer was less than expected.
The findings provide hope that vaccines may generate long-term protection.
France eases its ban on travel from England, a move prompted by the discovery of a rapidly spreading variant virus.
One reason for concern: The variant has developed 23 mutations in just months.
A multistate analysis of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in the American Journal of Epidemiology yesterday found that 12.6% of patients died, with blacks especially hard hit.
The findings challenge WHO guidance, which calls for antibiotics before the incision, rather than after cord clamping.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine likely protects against the UK variant, an official says.
Iran has more than 5 million diabetic residents, with over 600,000 needing daily insulin injections.
A study in JAMA Internal Medicine today demonstrates a sharp decline in US hospital COVID-19 mortality rates during the first 6 months of the pandemic, with wide variation across hospitals and poorer outcomes linked to higher county-level case rates.
Today and tomorrow 5.9 million doses of Moderna's vaccine will arrive at 3,400 locations.
The case raises concerns about the state's feeding program, which attracts thousands of elk.
More than 1,100 cases involving the fast-spreading strain are confirmed, most in people younger than 60.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ended two separate Escherichia coli O157:H7 investigations on Dec 18. Neither of the outbreaks had a definitive source, although one triggered a food recall on a single brand of romaine lettuce.
